Silent Words
by fat1236
Summary: When a strange girl washes up on a beach Edmund finds his feeling out of his control, but she harbors a secret that she finds impossible to live with, a secret that can cause the downfall of entire countries if she ever reveals it. EdmundXOC
1. Chapter 1

_This is a new story I thought of the other day and I immediately wrote down the idea and made a start on the first chapter! Just to give you an idea of the standard of my writing; I'm the author of Entwined, I Couldn't Leave Her, Fluttering, Shards Of A Haunted Mind, Lavender Moon and a few other fics that aren't Narnian..._

_Obviously this is only the first chapter and the first one's never very good, but please stick with me and leave reviews; I like to know when people and really happy with my work and when you feel it's not quite right...I'm always open to suggestions! Enjoy!_

The sun beamed down brighter than it had all year, injecting all the Narnians with a new-found sense of joy. In one corner of the country a group of friends, badgers, fauns, foxes and dwarfs were having a picnic to celebrate the sudden appearance of the sun after the last few weeks of spring rain. In another, the waves were rolling gently onto the empty beach and a few mermaids were splashing in the distance.

Only one was not happy that day; but she was unaware where she was, let alone happy. The young woman lay, discarded on the beach, half her body on the sand and half on the piece of driftwood that had saved her life. Her dark blue dress and long dark hair were soaking and clung to her body wetly. She lifted her head slightly off the sand and tried to open her eyes, but as soon as she did so sea water ran into them from her eyelashes. So she simply put her head back down and squeezed her eyes tightly shut as she tried to get rid of the stinging pain the salt water brought, falling unconscious again from sheer exhaustion in a heartbeat.

Three giggling dryads chased each other down to the sea, every now and then leaving a petal of blossom in the path behind them. With a few screams they splashed each other before noticing the motionless figure of the young woman a few metres away from them.

They fell silent, their fun ruined as they all walked cautiously forward; Narnia was not a dangerous place, but it was easy for unwanted Archenlandian and Calormene objects to wash up on the beach.

The three sisters stared down at the woman for a few seconds before the boldest crouched down and gently shook her. The woman stayed unconscious and the sister stood up again and looked to the most sensible sister for what they should do.

But that sister simply shrugged and looked back down at the woman as though waiting for her to wake up.

"I think she's from Archenland." The youngest sister suddenly said, holding back her curly hair as a light breeze picked up, sending petals flying from the three. "I recognise that dress style from when King Lune came and they brought that girl, Shasta, with them."

"Yes, I do too." The boldest sister said after a moment's scrutiny and silence.

"Well, as lovely as it is to know where she's from, what are we going to do with her?"

Silence followed the oldest sister's words as all three thought of numerous possibilities.

"We could take her to King Edmund!" The youngest sister said; a bright smile on her hopeful face.

"Oh yes, you'd like that wouldn't you?" The boldest sister teased her gently. Her younger sister's cheeks turned the same delicate shade of pink as the blossom on her tree in embarrassment.

"Good afternoon, ladies." A voice suddenly called out. The three whipped around in surprise, releasing yet more petals into the air around them. "I believe I heard my name?"

The three sisters curtseyed to King Edmund as he strode over and the youngest one kept her head ducked as she tried desperately to cool her flaming cheeks.

"It's the Thisber sister's, isn't it?" He checked with a kind smile as he reached them all. "I hope I find you all well, how is your - oh my, who's this?" He asked as he spied the woman on the floor who had remained oblivious to all of this action.

"We just found her a few moments ago, your Royal Highness." The eldest sister said quickly said, shooting her youngest sister a look of annoyance over King Edmund's head as he bent down to examine the woman.

Putting his first two fingers on the side of her exposed neck he waited momentarily before breathing a sigh of relief as he found her pulse.

"We think she's from Archenland; we recognise her style of clothing, Sir." The youngest sister added, almost tripping over her words. Having just paled to her normal colour, her blush returned.

"Mmm, I agree." Edmund said quietly, his gaze sweeping over her attire and shoe-less feet. Moving back a strand of wet hair he stared at her face for a moment before determining that he did not recognise her.

Straightening up he rubbed his jaw pensively as he considered what to do; if she was indeed Archenlandian, Susan would want the girl treated like royalty so that she'd return to Archenland with tales of how wonderful the Narnians were.

"It's fortunate I decided to come for a ride; I would hate to put any of you out of your way." He mused, half-heartedly making small talk with the sisters as the silence dragged on. "Philip?" He suddenly called over his shoulder, turning to look at his faithful horse who stood at the edge of the South East Wood where the sand and grass mixed together.

"I could carry her too." The faithful horse called back; he'd been watching and had foreseen Edmund's sensible actions.

"Are you sure? Her dress is still soaking wet, I expect she'll weigh far more than you would think to glance at her..." Edmund checked in concern; thinking of the leg Philip had strained only weeks ago. If need be, he could call for a centaur or a group of fauns to carry her.

"I'm sure I'll manage, Sire."

"Alright, but don't blame me when you have to take more of Jasper's 'cures'." Edmund retorted playfully before bending down and struggling to lift the still-unconscious woman.

He could tell that she was light, but the deadweight of her dripping dress made each movement far harder than it should be.

He inclined his head to the three sisters who all curtseyed back. "Goodbye, I hope we meet again soon." He said with his usual smile.

"Do let us know how she recovers." The eldest sister said angelically.

"Of course I will, I'll deliver the news personally." Edmund replied as he began to walk back to Philip.

"Love me..." The eldest sister said quietly to the youngest. "Next time we see him; try and act a bit brighter!"

Edmund rested the woman half in his left arm and half against Philip's flank as he hauled himself up before readjusting her in front of him, her legs dangling over Philip's side.

"Slowly please, Philip." Edmund said as the horse set off.

Once out of sight of the three waving sisters he studied the woman's face a little more, thinking of the many situations that may have led to her current situation.

Ship wrecked?

Her face was freshly tanned and hot to the touch, though her skin was sallow and unhealthy. He took the wild guess that she had been floating for days, or had at least not eaten for days. Moving the shoulder of her dress slightly he was startled at the difference in skin colour; the skin beneath the dress was almost ivory white in contrast to the extremely tanned skin on her face and neck.

After a moment he stopped his musings; he was sure she'd tell them all her story when she awoke. He instead began wiping the sand from the left side of her face and neck where she'd been resting on the sand, thinking ahead to the practical elements of having a strange shipwrecked woman in Cair Paravel.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hi everyone, thank you for your support so far with this story; I hope I don't disappoint! This next chapter isn't particularly exciting, but I felt the need to include it and so here it is! As always, please review as you leave...it makes me happy and I enjoy knowing what people are thinking of it; suggestions as to where it's going are always welcome! Enjoy! _

"My King." A faun who worked in the kitchen bowed from his position halfway down the entrance steps of Cair Paravel. "Who is this?" He asked; catching sight of the woman accompanying Edmund on Philip's tired back.

"I'm not entirely sure, Karloue." Edmund replied as Philip slowly drew to a stop right in front of the faun. "Could you take her please?" He asked, helping Karloue carefully take the girl before dismounting himself. "Thank you, Philip, go and rest and have a bucket of oats; I shan't be needing you for the rest of the day." The weary horse plodded off, already thinking ahead to the comfortable palace stables and the straw he could lay in. Edmund stretched his arms out and swung them around him with a wince as he felt the stiff joints and tense muscles that'd been supporting the girl gradually relax. "Do you mind carrying her back into the castle? I've sat in exactly the same position for almost an hour and my muscles are protesting loudly." Edmund said to Karloue, indicating the obliging faun back up the steps.

"Where should I take her, your Majesty?" The young faun asked as the two passed through the huge double doors that were wide open and into the cooler hall.

"Take her to the cream guest room; I believe Demley dusted it yesterday. I'll just call for Dr Takit." Edmund replied; stopping and retracing his steps back out of the palace and down the steps.

Dr Takit was a scholarly red dwarf who lived in the woods little over two minutes away. He was a little on the short side (even for a dwarf) and acted as the palace doctor, constantly ready to sprint to the aid of one of the four Pevensie's, their guests or their staff at a moment's notice. He did so this time, jogging in order to keep up with Edmund's long strides.

Narnian doctor's are not like ordinary doctor's; they carry no equipment but the information they have in their minds and are very rarely people, but generally dwarfs or centaurs because they have the most sensitive fingers and intuitive minds.

Karloue was waiting for them in the cream room with his arms impatiently crossed, the young woman lying on the bed where he had carefully deposited her.

Dr Takit bustled into the room and pulled himself up onto the bed, checking her pulse before he did anything else. Suddenly realising he was being very unprofessional he ushered the two out of the room so that he could examine his new patient, telling Edmund to shut the door behind him.

After a few moments Edmund noticed Karloue's fidgeting and quickly dismissed him, realising that the faun most probably had plans and that he'd interrupted them.

"I'm terribly sorry. I do hope I haven't made you late for anything." Edmund apologised.

"It's quite alright, your Highness, it's just a tea party my fiancée is throwing for a few of our friends..."

Edmund smiled and ordered the faun to have fun, wondering how long he'd been engaged as he ran off and reprimanding himself for not taking enough interest in the palace's staff.

With a sigh he languidly leant against the wall next to the door with his still-aching arms folded; he knew from past experience that it would not take Dr Takit long to examine the woman.

However, for once Edmund was wrong; what normally took the Doctor no longer than five minutes took him well over a quarter of an hour, and even then his little face did not look happy when he finally opened the door and beckoned Edmund in.

"Come now, Doctor, it can't be that bad..." Edmund said worriedly, looking at the woman's motionless figure splayed out on the bed and noticing that the Doctor had messed her damp hair up.

"Firstly; she is severely dehydrated. You say you found her washed up on the East beach?" The Doctor asked, regarding a nodding Edmund over the top of his spectacles. "Well, her level of dehydration and sun damage corresponds with more than three but less than five days at sea. See here; she has some of the most intense sun damage I've ever seen." The Doctor said, moving the shoulder of her dress slightly just as Edmund had done an hour ago. Edmund simply nodded and played dumb; unwilling to reveal that he'd moved the dress of a strange woman from her shoulder.

"Can you do anything about that?" Edmund asked, thinking of the female Archenlandian nobility who walked around the castle grounds with parasols when they visited, determined to keep the sun off their fair skin.

"I can...when she wakes I can give her a salve; but some of the damage will only fade with time. She is sleeping now from pure exhaustion, and, honestly, my King, the longer she stays unconscious the better it will be for her health..." Dr Takit trailed off, staring at the woman and frowning worriedly.

"What else? Why do you look so unsatisfied, Doctor?" Edmund asked, carefully watching him and running his thumb over his lips absentmindedly, trying to discern which part of the woman's body the Doctor was frowning at.

"There is something here that I have never come across before; and it worries me greatly..." He said, trailing off as he tried to express his worries in a way that would not alarm the young King, but would put him on his guard.

"She looks fine to me." Edmund said, staring at the girl and beginning to frown too as he tried to find a worrying fault in her.

"It is not something that is very visible, my King; an abnormality in her skull that suggests some kind of effect from a blow to the head. However, there is no bruising and no sign of past bruising...here, feel this spot of her head." The Doctor ordered, guiding Edmund's fingers to a sort of dent in the left side of her skull. "Now feel your own..." Edmund searchingly felt his skull in roughly the same area, feeling nothing but the ordinary shape of his skull.

"But people have all sorts of different skull shapes; could this not just be an odd deformity that she's had from birth?" Edmund checked, but the Doctor shook his head, completely sure of himself.

"Not this; it is a dent, not a simple dip; it doesn't stop her body from functioning normally, but I have no idea what she will be like when she awakes...it may affect her personality, or perhaps her cognitive function." The Doctor explained, looking a little sad and worried at his own words. "You need to be prepared for that and you need to prepare the others in the castle."

Edmund simply nodded and tried to think of the best way to tell Peter they had a possible psychopath unconscious in the cream room.

"Give her water when she wakes, though only small sips at a time and give her grapes if she is hungry. Call me straight away and I'll examine her again and see if she needs a particular diet in order to recover; I expect she will."

Edmund made a mental list of the things the Doctor was telling him, trying to remember to tell Mrs Beaver the list just in case he forgot it over the next few days.

He thanked the Doctor and waved him out of Cair Paravel from the top of the steps before searching the castle for willing servants to each spend a while watching the girl and waiting for her to wake up.


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm terribly sorry I haven't updated this in about a month! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, please do so again, and if you're not reviewing, then please start! Though praise is clearly what I love the most, I do still enjoy getting constructive criticism; I always try to take on board my readers' opinions. So; the section below is in italics which will represent dreams/the past throughout the story. Enjoy!**

_The light in the grove was brilliant, almost blindingly so and it shone off both of their faces, giving them glowing skin and radiant hair. _

"_Will you give yourself to me, if I give you a gift only I can bestow?" He whispered softly, playing gently with a few strands of her hair, his face millimetres from hers and his breath tickling her cheek. His touch was so soft she could barely feel it, but every one of her senses was alert; when she was with him she was more tuned into her body than she had ever been._

_The air around them was fresh, as though it had been cleaned in last night's rainfall. It smelt heavily of wild tulips and honeysuckle and the bubbling stream before them leant them gentle music, the sun's reflection on the water adding to the brightness of the day._

_ There was a lengthy pause between the two before she finally opened her mouth, still unsure of what to say. His beauty confused her; when she was with him she couldn't think clearly; and she loved it. Not being able to think was something she craved; to momentarily be too stunned to remember the shambles that was her home was more than a dream come true._

_His hair was golden and his skin clearer than the spring water in front of them. Soft, creamy and pale it contrasted with his bright green eyes and strangely dark lashes. She was almost completely the opposite; dark brown hair, pale skin and eyes so dark they were almost black. _

_ And he loved her for it. _

_To him she was exotic; a rare find and something to be treasured until she would eventually lose her beauty like a wilting rose._

_Suddenly the two heard footsteps, their heads snapping to the west almost guiltily. He quickly disappeared as a few men from her village appeared, barely visible amongst the trees._

"_What are you doing here?" The blacksmith asked in surprise, holding out his hand so that the other men paused in their hunting._

_She opened her mouth again, panicking as she failed to formulate an excuse._

Edmund opened the door to the cream room; in need of some quiet time he had offered to replace an ill faun from her watch of the woman as they waited for her to wake. It had been exactly a day, to the very hour, since he had brought her back to Cair Paravel, and in all that time she had not woken or even moved. He carried a bunch of grapes in his left hand and a book of Narnian history underneath his arm with the intention of simply relaxing for a few hours.

He had closed the door behind him before he stopped stock still when he realised the bed was empty. It took him a moment to locate the woman who was standing by the window, staring at him with very large black eyes and a confused countenance.

He was stunned momentarily; now that her eyes were open he could see that she was stunning; her face was perfectly proportioned and her almond eyes were even larger than his.

"Why, hello there, how do you feel?" He recovered quickly, forcing himself to act natural and unable to keep the surprise out of his voice at her sudden recuperation.

Her eyes widened and for a single moment a fleeting glance of recognition passed across her face before sheer panic and fear set in.

Edmund remained stock still, shocked at her mixed reaction to his simple words.

Suddenly, with no warning, the girl crumpled to the ground. Edmund ran over worriedly, dropping his book and grapes to the floor and checking she had a pulse. Pulling on her shoulder he forced her onto her back and lifted her back onto the bed, all the while wondering whether he should call Dr Takit; after all, she had woken.

Instead he went and filled a goblet with water, leaving it on the bedside table he settled down next to. He took this opportunity to really look at her, moving back a strand of her hair that crossed her neck.

She really was exceedingly pretty; but he knew better than anyone that beauty was not everything. A few months ago he had thought himself to be in love with the beautiful daughter of an Archenlandian Lord, he had originally thought she was funny, but what he had thought to be jokes were not and it had taken him over two months to realise that she was cruel and spoilt.

He remembered Dr Takit's warning that her personality could be impaired because of her skull abnormality, and he sat back in his chair, determinedly picking up his book and not allowing himself to glance at her except when checking she was still asleep.

Half an hour passed in this fashion before he realised that her eyes were open and she was staring blankly at him. Up close, her huge dark eyes almost broke his heart and Edmund had to swallow before he could speak.

"Who are you?" She asked, but her voice was so hoarse the words were barely coherent. Edmund jumped up and began to help her to sit up; glad of somewhere to look that wasn't her eyes. He arranged the cushions behind her and helped the weak woman to take a few sips of the water, watching warily as she struggled to swallow.

After a few easier sips, she turned her face away from the goblet and tried to push it away, clearing her throat whilst Edmund put it back on the bedside table.

"I am King Edmund of Narnia." He answered her question, sitting back down on his chair and leaning forwards on his elbows.

"Then I am in Narnia?" She asked; her voice a little stronger and clearly less painful for her throat.

"Yes. We found you unconscious on the South East beach and brought you back to the palace yesterday." He informed her, watching her blink slowly and languidly as though such a tiny movement required such an extraordinary amount of energy, but then again, perhaps to her it did. Edmund had no idea for he had never experienced the things this woman had. "What is your name?"

"Saskia." She replied after a pause. "Saskia Armena." Edmund nodded and stood, calling to a passing servant to fetch Dr Takit and inform him that the woman had woken.

"And are you from Archenland, Saskia?" He probed further, sitting back down and trying to identify the emotion he saw in her eyes.

She nodded, but there was a longer pause and it was clear she did not wish to elaborate. A little unwillingly, Edmund glossed over it, carefully monitoring her placidity. She had barely moved since waking and lay now with her gaze slowly drifting between his face and nothing. His thoughts immediately drifted to the dent in her skull. Is that what was making her so still? So docile?

"I have sent for the Doctor; he will just check that there are no problems and prescribe a certain diet for you."

"There is nothing wrong with me." She said, sitting up with a jolt and looking at him far more intensely than she had so far.

"It is just to be sure..." Edmund reassured her, sensing her alarm.

"No, thank you for your kindness but I must-"

"Whoah!" Edmund interrupted, forcing her back against the pillows as she started to get out of bed. "I order you to stay!" He said, simply expecting her to obey him as everyone else did (baring his siblings), but the strange woman was not going to give up without a fight.

"No, really, I must return-" She protested further, fending off his attempts to make her stay put.

"I order you, as King of Narnia, to stay put in this bed!" She stopped struggling at his words as she realised exactly what she was doing; she could not afford to offend the King of the land she was in.

"Now, Doctor Takit will be here in only a few moments, and my siblings and I insist on you staying here until you have completely recovered."

He knew what the emotion in her eyes was now; it was pure, overwhelming misery and it was this that was making her so passive as she once again relaxed back into her submissive self.

A knock on the door announced Dr Takit who once again shooed Edmund out of the room so that he could examine his patient.

Peter and Susan had gone riding, but he set off for the library, knowing that Lucy would be studying in there with Mr Tumnus.

"Lu?" He called out (the Cair Paravel library was not a quiet place), walking over to the table she and Mr Tumnus were occupying. "The Archenlandian woman has woken up; she's called Saskia Armena and I think she would indeed fit into your old clothes."

"Oh, how is she? I'll go choose a few pieces for her and make my way over in a moment!" Lucy replied, immediately putting her quill down and jumping up much to the exasperation of Mr Tumnus who had found that Lucy was very easily distracted and difficult to teach.

Edmund grinned at Mr Tumnus and quickly left, not wanting to keep Doctor Takit waiting.


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm sorry I haven't updated this story in quite a while! I'm afraid I had a bit of writers block (and exams got in the way). I'd thought about the main plot of this story but really hadn't considered what I'd put in the rest! Anyway, thank you to everyone who's reviewed, please everyone review this chapter! Enjoy!_

"Well?" Edmund asked, having knocked on the door and been called in.

"As I said before, she is severely dehydrated and I believe she will be for a few days and she is weak from a lack of nourishment. I have brought the salve for her skin with me and she should apply this twice a day to the affected areas; morning and evening for the next week." The Doctor explained, speaking loudly and looking at Saskia over his spectacles sternly. Edmund noticed how still she was again, lying in the bed with her face turned away from the two, though she was clearly listening.

"What about the…" Edmund asked quietly, indicating his own head and trying to not let Saskia hear his words.

Dr Takit looked a little annoyed at Edmunds words. "The patient would not let me examine her skull. She put up a mighty great fight for someone who has survived on nothing for days." He pursed his lips and beckoned Edmund outside of the room and out of hearing of the young woman's alert ears.

"You must be on your guard, my King. Just because she has so far shown no sign of an abnormality; that does not mean it is not there. I do not like to think it, but she may be a danger to everyone in this castle."

"What about her placidity? Could that not be how she has been affected?" Edmund checked.

"No, that is from exhaustion and dehydration. May I suggest, my king that you lock her in?"

"What? You cannot be serious, Doctor!" Edmund exclaimed in horror. As far as they knew Saskia had done nothing wrong; she did not deserve to unjustly be treated like a criminal.

"I am perfectly so. It will only be for a few days to make sure she is not dangerous. She will be too tired in that time to leave the room anyway - "

"I do not approve of locking innocent people up. She - "

"The fact that she fought so vigorously to prevent me from checking her skull tells me that she is aware of her abnormality and wishes to hide it. Secrecy is the sign of someone who has something to be guilty of." The Doctor pushed, looking earnestly at Edmund over the top of his spectacles.

"Fine." Edmund said shortly after a long pause. "Just for the next two days."

The Doctor bid him goodbye, and when Edmund returned to the room he found Saskia asleep again. Instead of asking her more questions he fetched a pitcher of water, a plate of cold meat, bread, cheese and fruit for her, leaving it on the bedside table for when she woke.

Lucy came in with four dresses in her arms just as Edmund was leaving.

"Oh, is she sleeping again?" Lucy asked, a little disappointed that she had missed her chance to meet their guest (and an excuse to take a break from her boring lesson on the history of wine making).

"Yes. Dr Takit said she'd be like this for a few days whilst she recovers. Come on, I'm sure she'll be awake later."

Lucy draped the dresses over the desk chair and the two stepped out. Edmund closed the door behind him, reluctantly taking a key from his pocket and locking it.

"What on earth are you doing? You cannot lock her in!" Lucy exclaimed in horror, hearing the lock sliding into place.

"I like it even less than you, Lu, but it was under Dr Takits advice!" Edmund protested unhappily.

"Dr Takit said you should lock a sick young woman who is our guest in her room?" Lucy asked incredulously, attempting to snatch the key from Edmund.

"Yes, he did!" Edmund replied, holding the key out of her reach and quickly walking away before Lucy could see the uncertainty that flitted across his face.

Lucy stood indecisively for a moment before charging off, determination in her stride.

Inside the room Saskia had opened her eyes as soon as she had heard them locking her in. She slowly sat up and then gradually stood, holding carefully onto anything within her reach as the room swam around her.

She put her ear to the door momentarily to check no-one was stood outside before trying the handle, finding the door as locked as it had sounded.

Slowly making her way back to the bed she took a few sips of the water king Edmund had left and ate a few grapes, alternating between staring around at the room and pondering on certain events of her past and what she should do now.

The fruit was beginning to fill the ache her body had been feeling for days and she carefully stood again, picked a few more and looked out of the window, squinting slightly at the bright sunlight. Her room looked over part of the gardens; to the left was a beautiful big fountain, but she couldn't make out its details from such a distance, to her right and straight ahead was a variety of colourful flowers and trees, all well tended and cared for.

Her eye was caught by a movement to her right and she leant her forehead against the window, trying to see what it was and wondering if it could be one of the wonderful Narnian creatures she had only heard stories about.

Her curiosity was quelled when she realised it was not a magical being, but the dark haired king Edmund who had both saved and imprisoned her. Never the less, she continued to stare, waiting for him to do something, though she didn't know what she expected. He turned suddenly and looked up at the window, but she was well ahead of him and had thrown herself to the side of the window, the gently moving cream curtain the only indication that she had been there.

Saskia calmed her rapidly beating heart and stopped herself from peeping out of the window at him again, ashamed that she was thinking about trivial matters such as a good looking man when she had so much else on her mind.

She heard a key scraping in the lock and flung herself back into the bed, throwing the sheets back over herself just in time as the handle turned and someone walked in.

She tried to breathe deeply and feign sleep, convinced that it was king Edmund, that he'd somehow seen her at the window and come running back to ask her questions she didn't want to, or even know how to answer.

But she was wrong; it was Lucy, not Edmund. The young woman had sweet talked Mrs Beaver into giving her the spare key and hurried back, determined to unlock the wrongfully locked door.

"Hi." She said in a stage whisper, standing on her tiptoes and trying to see Saskia's hidden face. "I know you're not really asleep, believe me, I've seen Susan pretend-sleep so may times I'm an expert!"

Saskia still didn't respond and Lucy's face fell a little. "I understand if you don't want to talk to me, but just so you know, I'm a good listener! And we'll do everything we can to make you welcome here at Cair Paravel..."

After a moment Saskia heard the door close, and this time the sound of the lock sliding into place did not follow it. She sat up quickly, feeling a little guilty that she had ruthlessly ignored someone who was clearly very sweet and friendly.

The door opened again before Saskia had a chance to move and Lucy's face peeked around the door.

"And by the way, feel free to take a bath or anything." She said, one corner of her mouth twitching up in amusement at finding herself right.

The door closed again and Saskia hauled herself up again and ate a few more grapes before investigating the rest of the room, the dresses Lucy had left, the contents of the desk drawers, the chest at the base of her bed and the adjoining bathroom.

Catching sight of herself in the mirror she blanched; her pearly skin was red raw and peeling, her hair was greasy and damaged from the lack of nutrients she'd had and the sea and weather.

She immediately ran the bath, appreciating only for a moment that they had the latest plumbing at Cair Paravel before retrieving the salve from the bedroom.

She sniffed it cautiously, surprised at the mixed smell of lavender and jasmine that she was met with. She cautiously smeared a little of the pale green cream on one cheek, revelling in the cool relief it brought her irritated skin. Within seconds the cream had soaked in and her cheek already looked better, so she carefully spread it over the rest of her face, watching it disappear and leave a much healthier face behind.

When finished she turned off the bath taps and cast a furtive glance around before stripping, almost expecting to see a peek-a-boo hole for someone to be watching her through. She gladly sunk into the warm water and automatically began to scrub at her skin with a brush and apple-smelling substance. A pot next to it contained an almost identical liquid, but its wooden casing had an 'S' carved carefully into it, standing, she hoped, for shampoo. She washed her hair with it before relaxing; finding her mundane efforts had tired her out. She rested her head back against the bath and allowed her mind to drift, as it always did, back to her past.

She stayed like that for an indefinite amount of time, at least half an hour for the water became cool before she knew it. She was just gathering her strength to move and get out of the bath when she saw a shadow against the wall in front of her.

Fear immediately coursed through her, thoughts of who it could be and what they wanted running through her mind before she even had a chance to move. A mop of dark hair poked around the door and she instinctively screamed as loudly as she could.

Her shriek was followed by a yell of surprise followed by the quick withdrawal of the head and panicked footsteps retreating away from the bathroom.

She jumped out of the bath and yanked a nearby towel around her, realising now that it had been king Edmund who had surprised her.

"I'm – I'm so sorry." He was stammering through the open door at her from the bedroom. Neither could see the other, and it was just as well for Saskia was still covering herself and Edmunds cheeks had turned bright red with embarrassment, something that very rarely happened to him. "I – I just came to check that you were alright and when I couldn't see you I thought you'd run off! And – I'm so sorry, I'll leave you now." He blustered, practically running from the room.

He leant against the door once he'd closed it behind him and tried to calm his flaming cheeks, shaking his head with disbelief at his own behaviour; only a fool didn't call out first before entering a lady's bathroom. He had almost been asking for such an embarrassing encounter really with his shockingly silly behaviour.

Saskia's beating heart began to calm when she heard him turn the key, locking her in the room once again.


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but I'm afraid it's taking me a while to come up with the first few chapters for this story! Hopefully once I'm able to get into the plot it'll all be much easier, but I'm afraid I have to ask you all to be patient until then! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, please do so again! Enjoy!_

Edmund knocked loudly, ensuring it was so loud it could even be heard in her bathroom; just in case.

"Yes?" Her voice called out quietly from within. Taking a deep breath to calm his nervous heart, Edmund opened the door and marched in briskly.

"Good morning. How are you feeling today?" He asked cheerfully, carefully depositing his armful of clutter on the bedside table and deliberately avoiding what had happened yesterday. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, already fully dressed in one of Lucy's old blue dresses with her hair brushed.

She immediately saw that he'd decided to pretend yesterday had never happened and she was glad; she had been dreading the awkward conversation they may have about it. "I'd feel better if I were not locked in." She replied, watching his face closely.

Edmund pursed his lips a little in unhappiness. He'd hoped she wouldn't notice, but in hindsight, that had been an irrational hope. "So, well enough to get out of bed and move around?" He asked, quickly moving on and skilfully avoiding the situation. "Dr Takit said you ought to stay in bed for another day at least, so I've bought you a variety of books, some drawing pencils and a pad and some embroidery for amusement. Susan said these are the things you're most likely to enjoy..."

"You mean these are three of the very limited amount of things women are allowed to do." She replied sharply, turning her back to him when his piercing gaze finally rested on her. She knew that look; she saw it in most men's eyes – as she walked down the street, as she bought apples at the market – it was desire, lust. She was used to it and also tired of it.

"Perhaps in Archenland, but in Narnia women may do as they please." He finally said in return.

"Then why lock me in?" She shot back, keeping her back to him and pulling all of her hair over her left shoulder, feeling again how smooth the Narnian cosmetics had made it.

"I was worried that you would get lost in the palace overnight." He improvised quickly. "But of course, now that it is day time I can show you around if you feel up to it...?"

"I feel wonderful; I have always found Narnian food to be very refreshing."

Edmund took the compliment to Narnia as if to a compliment of a possession of his own; a smile stole over his lips and his chest puffed out a little proudly.

"Yes, well, everything in Narnia is excellent..." He mumbled.

"Well, I'm obviously free all day, so it is up to you when we go. Unless of course you're too busy; anyone would be fine." She said flippantly, hoping to discourage him. Kings were powerful and dangerous people; she had never even met one before but her father had been the leader of her village – their equivalent of a king.

"No, no, I will take you. We can go now; I have freed up my entire day so that I may attend to you." Her heart sank at the news and she swallowed, plucking up the courage to force herself to be horrid and cruel to him.

"Well, you can't have been too busy." She stated, stalking past him and out of her open door.

The hallway was cooler than her room and slightly darker; wide and high windows were placed every few metres with a hinge to open them. It was not a particularly bright day; occasionally the sun shone down brightly, but it was mostly hidden behind grey clouds. Saskia took note that there was a solitary guard placed at each end of the hall way that presumably led to other parts of the castle.

"This way, please. We can start at the front, work our way down the left side and then return along the right side." Edmund held out his arm, indicating for Saskia to walk beside him. "By the way, your skin is looking better." He suddenly remarked, giving himself an excuse to stare and scrutinise her face. Their eyes met briefly before she looked away sharply, watching instead where she placed her feet.

"Thank you. Shame I can't say the same about yours." She said after a lengthy pause. She had never been particularly quick at comebacks, and her stint on the sea had not helped her in this area.

Edmund looked at her sharply, unsure if she was making a joke. He let it slide, pretending he hadn't even heard her.

For the next half hour she ummed and ahhed and made appreciative noises about every room Edmund showed her, all the while trying to gather the courage to be mean.

"Saskia!" Lucy exclaimed upon coming around the corner and seeing them. Saskia too smiled upon seeing Lucy, remembering the last time they had met. "My dress looks good on you!"

"Oh, thank you for lending it to me, your Majesty..." Saskia said hesitantly, looking down at herself and holding the skirt out in one hand.

"Oh, Lucy, please, and it's no problem. It's much too small now anyway...What are you two up to?"

"I'm showing her around the palace." Edmund interrupted, already tired of talk about dresses.

"Oooh, let me show her!" Lucy begged excitedly. Saskia could not help but notice the warmth and light that Lucy seemed to bring with her. She was sure that as soon as the young queen had arrived the hallway had brightened slightly and as she watched the siblings interact she was certain of it.

"What? No! I am!" Edmund shot back a little too insistently.

"Don't be childish, Ed, anyway, I'm much more fun than you." Lucy teased.

"Oh fine." Edmund gave in and walked away after a lengthy pause, grumbling about Lucy taking over things.

Saskia exhaled with relief as he walked away.

"Sorry, he can be a terrible bore." Lucy commented, noticing Saskia's relief.

"Oh, it's not...yes, yes he can." Saskia suddenly said, changing halfway through her sentence as she realised that it was far easier to lie than to tell a complete stranger the truth.

"Actually, I take it back. Edmund's not at all boring. In fact he's very interesting." Lucy said after a moment's thought. She began walking and stared sideways hard at Saskia's face.

"Well I'm afraid our opinions of your brother differ - "

" – what's the real reason you're glad he's no longer showing you around?" Lucy interrupted quickly.

Saskia was silent for a long time. "I don't mean to patronise, but you wouldn't understand."

"Oh I promise you I would, I'm very bright really." Lucy said light-heartedly.

"Well, I suppose you'll understand exactly what I mean – after all, you're one of the beautiful queens of Narnia...it's just that all I ever see in men's eyes is lust. Desire. You must see it too. I see it in your brother's eyes whereas you wouldn't, and I'm just very tired of seeing it." Saskia explained, her gaze flicking between the floor and out of the palace windows – anywhere but at Lucy.

"Why? Desire is such a powerful thing. If a man desires you then you have almost complete control over him; sometimes it's such a strong control that he'd lay down his life for you." Lucy argued back, trying to keep her tone a little light-hearted when in actual fact she was a little worried that someone younger than herself recognised the look of desire; Lucy was only 19 and Saskia could not be more than 17.

"No, you are getting lust confused with love." Saskia retaliated. "When a man loves a woman, then she has a little power, otherwise we are subjected to their whims and wishes."

"Not in Narnia."

Saskia looked sharply at Lucy and stopped walking in protest at Lucy's words. "I don't think you do understand; you are Queen Lucy. You are a queen. You have power over everyone except other queens and kings – that's what? 30 other people in the entire world? Women in normal life have power only over their children, and even then it's only the girls because once the boys turn 16 they are men and can control you."

"I will say it again; not in Narnia." Lucy said quietly and slowly for emphasis, watching Saskia's face carefully. "A woman can do whatever she likes here; perhaps it is different in Archenland, though I am surprised because Lune has reassured us that Archenland is just like Narnia – a land of equality and freedom."

"Yes; if you have noble blood and know Lune personally then you are fine; you are set for life, but the majority of us have neither and so we are given neither." Saskia replied with the same tone as Lucy.

For a moment Lucy was silent, unsure how to react. She could not call Saskia a liar as, for all she knew, rural Archenland was as she described it. "I see you speak from experience." She finally answered, silently watching Saskia and waiting to hear her story.

"No. Even I have not experienced the very worst." Saskia replied, looking away. "I have only seen it, heard it and been punished for it."

"What is it? What's the worst?" Lucy asked with almost bated breath.

"Something that would make your eyes bleed tears." Saskia said shortly before walking away so quickly she was almost running. She had no wish to go into details of her past when it would achieve nothing.

When she was sure no-one was looking she started to jog gently, running through the gardens until she found a large lavender bush that had a little hole in its side. Peeking inside it she saw that its gnarled stems grew at funny angles, leaving a wide space in the middle.

Straightening up she took one last furtive look around, making sure no-one was watching before happily climbing in. She wriggled and fidgeted until she found a comfortable position and crossed her legs, leaning her elbows on her knees and hiding her face in her hands despairingly.

She had nowhere to go, no-one to help her and no idea of what she was to do. What was even worse was that she was deliberately making the kings and queens hate her, even though they had kindly given her shelter. But she couldn't risk it; they'd start asking her questions about where she was from and where she intended to go next, and she couldn't answer either.

"Excuse me." She jumped and gave a little scream of surprise. "I think you'll find you're in my spot." She simply stared with shock into Edmund's smiling face, trying to formulate a reply. She realised she had taken too long when he suddenly clambered into the hole with her, making it incredibly cramped with his tall frame.

"I saw you coming in here from my study window..." He explained. "I come here when I need some space; or where Susan wants me for something that I don't care about..."

Saskia remained silent, uncomfortable with his close proximity. She had heard about how honourable the Narnian kings were, but she still could not help wondering if anyone would come to her aid if she started screaming for any reason.

"Forgive me, but I must ask; what is it that makes you so unhappy?" He asked suddenly, shocking Saskia. "Perhaps if you share this problem I can assist you with an answer."

"It is not the kind of problem that can be solved." She said hesitantly, looking him properly in the eyes now.

"Then what kind of problem is it?" He asked, maintaining the eye contact and feeling very aware of exactly how close they were – the sides of their torso's were pressed together and, though she had sat up and clutched her knees to her chest when he entered, their legs were mere millimetres away.

"The kind that defines you and shapes your future." She said seriously, her gaze moving from him and becoming a little distant at her words. He instantly knew that she was thinking about something in her past and he quickly pulled her back into the present.

"Hm, that sounds serious. Well, I've always said you can change your future and make it whatever you want it to be." A sharp breath of laughter escaped her at his words and her mouth twitched up at one corner. "You believe differently?"

"It doesn't matter what I believe. It's not like it means anything." Edmund stared hard at the profile of her face at her words, shocked at her attitude. "If you'll please excuse me, I'm not feeling too well; I think I'd like to return to my room..."

Edmund immediately scrambled out of the hole and helped her out, wordlessly taking her back to her room.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hi everyone, I'm so sorry it's taken me almost 2 months to update this story! To compensate for my awful author skills, I've written what is quite possibly the longest chapter I've ever done! This is a serious achievement for me; I usually only do about 2,000 words max, and this is over 4,000! Please be proud of me! Thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, please do so again! Enjoy! _

That evening Saskia was forced to stop her reading by the rapping at her door. She was reading 'The Knight and the Dragonfly'; a fairy tale that was one of the books Edmund had bought her that morning.

"Yes?" She called out a little nervously, uncurling herself and sitting up straight on the bed.

The door opened almost hesitantly and a young faun poked her head around the door. "Pardon me, Miss, but the High King requests that you join the family for dinner." She informed Saskia almost nervously.

Saskia sighed and smiled kindly at the faun who was either very shy or scared of her. "Thank you. Can I ask your advice?"

"Of – of course, Miss." The faun replied, stuttering in shock and moving in front of the door.

"Do you think I should join them?" She asked, desperately needing guidance. She'd never had to make a decision at home; she'd barely been able to breathe without being ordered to. She'd found that it was all very well wishing for freedom when she had none, but now that she had more than she could ever had imagined she suddenly found herself at a loss.

"Well, why not, Miss? They're really very nice!" She told her eagerly.

"Mm. I suppose I really can't say no to an invite from the High King." Saskia wondered, trying to find a justification to go.

"He's very nice!" The faun repeated. "He'll be understanding if you don't go down to dinner, but it wouldn't be very polite of you…"

"You're right. Should I dress up?" Saskia asked with undisguised dread. The dresses Lucy had leant her were far nicer than any she had at home, but even so they were not fit for dining with kings and queens.

"Just put on the best you have. It's only a family dinner so it's no great occasion." The faun told her, her confidence visibly growing.

"Thank you. What is your name?"

"Ava, Miss."

"Alright, I won't forget it. Thank you!"

The faun bobbed in a little curtsey and hurried out with a hesitant smile.

Saskia stood and stretched out her stiff limbs before selecting the blue dress that Lucy had given her. She gave her hair a quick brush and left it loose, looking at herself critically in the mirror. Her skin had not yet returned to its natural colour but with the help of the cream the tan was slowly starting to fade.

This dress had slightly wider shoulders than her Archenlandian one and the colour her skin had originally been was visible on either of her shoulders, marked by a clear line as the two different shades met.

She flicked her hair over her shoulders, trying to hide the ugly the lines and walked out quickly with a tut of annoyance at her appearance.

As soon as she left her room she realised she had no idea where she was going. Veering right she simply hoped for the best, remembering that Edmund had taken her this way to the front of the castle which was where the great hall was.

"Excuse me, could you please point me in the direction of the great hall?" She asked a faun in a red scarf who was trotting along the hallway. He quickly skipped to a stop and smiled at her broadly with a kind face.

"You must be Miss Armena! My name is Mr Tumnus." He proclaimed, holding his hand out to her efficiently. "I am a family friend and I also tutor the kings and queens in Narnian history. May I ask why you're going to the great hall?"

"I have been summoned to dine with the kings and queens…"

"Ah, then you want the dining room! I'm just on my way there myself! Informal dinners are held in the small room just next to the great hall - "

"Oh yes, I remember Edmund explaining this to me when he gave me a tour." Saskia said with a little smile at her own stupidity. "Sorry, I would normally remember all of the information he gave me, but I'm afraid I am not quite myself - "

"Of course not!" Mr Tumnus said in a hushed voice as though he were shocked at the mere idea of it. "After your experience…it was 4 days at sea wasn't it? No-one can expect you to be feeling yourself!"

"Oh! Um, yes, I believe it was 4 days." She hesitated; shocked that he knew so much about her. "May I ask how you know this?"

"It's all over the palace! Dr Takit gave us a rough estimate when he first examined you. But of course – you must not know!" His eyes widened at her as he quickly berated himself for not realising sooner. Of course Edmund would not have thought to explain something like this to their guest! "Narnian physicians are very perceptive…"

"So much so that he could tell that I'd been at sea for 4 days whilst I was unconscious?" She asked a little sceptically.

"Well, I am of course no physician myself, but I am a little interested in biology; I believe he looked at how dehydrated you were, how much water your skin had absorbed and such…" He trailed off, already thinking wistfully of his books. He'd considered bringing one to dinner, but he was always afraid he appeared rude - even though the kings and queens had assured him time and time again that they did not mind.

"Impressive. Physicians are nothing like that in Archenland…they just make wild guesses and hope for the best!" She replied with a twitch of her eyebrows and a tight humourless laugh.

"Yes, I've heard as such!" He commented with a renewed interest. "Please, do give me an objective view; I've heard that the physicians in Archenland believe very strongly in bleeding and the drawing out of 'bad blood'. Have you seen this to be particularly effective?"

"Not at all. My mother, father and my older brother have been bled, and that's in my close family alone! Practically everyone in my village has been bled at one point in their lives and, if anything, seemed to suffer more for it…it took them all a little longer to recover from their illness than it usually would."

"Interesting. Interesting…Ah, here we are." He said, hurrying to hold a door open for her.

Loud laughter spilled out of the brightly lit room and into the darker hallway, seeming to lift the entire atmosphere. She stepped into the light hesitantly as the laughter faded away and everyone inside turned to stare at her.

A few chairs scraped back as three males rose – two human and one apparently beaver.

"You must be Miss Armena! Welcome to Cair Paravel!" A good-looking man with sandy blonde hair said with a smile, his voice deep and as attractive as the rest of him.

He had an air about him; a certain grace that made it impossible for her to doubt that this was High King Peter. A little awed, she bobbed into a curtsy. "Yes, your majesty." She all but whispered. This was the man who'd led the Narnians into battle with the White Witch when he was only 13 years old.

"Please, join us, and call us by our first names. We are all friends here." He told her kindly, gesturing to the two empty seats; one next to Lucy and the other next to Edmund.

Lucy patted the seat beside her excitedly and grinned at Saskia, seeing this as the perfect chance to get to know her. "Sorry, Mr Tumnus, but I rather want to sit with Saskia tonight!" She declared, pouting a little at him.

His gaze, which was already soft and gentle, softened a little more as soon as he clapped eyes on Lucy and he instead sat next to Edmund with a small smile.

"I shall soldier on for the night with Edmund for company." He said gravely.

Saskia slid into the seat beside Lucy, feeling really quite nervous; her background story was only half formed in her mind. If she was asked a slightly obscure question she would have to wing it.

"Allow me to introduce my sister, Susan and our dear friends Mr and Mrs Beaver." Peter continued; he, Edmund and Mr Beaver sitting down as she did.

She was both surprised and touched by the gesture; it was clearly common here for gentlemen to stand when a lady was sitting down, but she didn't consider herself a lady and she'd never experienced such manners. The three who'd been introduced to her nodded and smiled at her kindly and she smiled back, unsure what to say.

She couldn't bring herself to look Edmund in the face after her earlier words.

After a few more hours sleep she'd finally seen sense; she could not be rude to the kings and queens who had so kindly given her shelter. Instead she would sit and smile as she wanted and hope that they'd put her earlier rudeness down to her not feeling herself after her 'experience'.

Queen Susan leaned eagerly on the table; she was sitting opposite Peter and next to Saskia at an angle and wore a plain, deep yellow dress with her hair freely down. "How are you feeling? Are you better? You must let us know if you want anything; anything at all!" She gushed earnestly, clasping her hands together at her cheek.

Saskia smiled gratefully. "I'm much better thank you. There is much to be said for the restorative power of Narnian food alone."

"Then you'll enjoy this dinner!" A coarse voice called out from the other side of Lucy. Saskia knew it must be Mr Beaver – he was the only male she had not yet heard speak.

There was a chuckle of laughter along the table at his words.

"But not as much as you." Edmund teased Mr Beaver, his eyes light and his stance relaxed in his chair. There was further laughter and Mr Beaver graciously accepted the joke, taking a glug of wine happily.

"We have often been told that." Susan suddenly said, returning to Saskia's compliment. "Indeed, when Lady Rosalie arrived from the Lone Islands with a terrible fever she was restored to perfect health within just two days after eating Narnian food."

"Oh, yes, I remember that!" Lucy chipped in. "She orders our apples by the crateful now and hands them out to anyone with a slight ailment!"

"She ought to make jam with them; it'd last longer!" Mrs Beaver inputted knowledgably.

Saskia's head was swivelling around to look at each person as they spoke; she was happy to take a backseat and simply listen to the group teasing each other rather than take centre stage and try and sell a story she'd later regret.

"I don't think Lady Rosalie is the type to make apple jam." Peter mused from the head of the table.

"Well you'd know." Edmund teased.

There was a joking "Oooh" from around the table and Susan hid her smile gracefully behind her hand whilst Lucy outright laughed.

Peter smiled and accepted the joke as Mr Beaver had accepted his; his cheeks turning just a little pink.

"We're having roasted quail in plum sauce." Susan told Saskia, sensing the woman's nervousness and seeking to ease her. "I do hope you're not a vegetarian." She suddenly said worriedly. It was neither a question nor a statement and Saskia immediately shook her head. "Oh good; I was afraid for a moment that you'd starve! The only vegetables we have with this dish are parsnips; they're wonderful with the fruit sauce!"

"Stop it, Su, you're making me hungry." Lucy grumbled, leaning over the table a little, her slim fingers digging into her sides. Her stomach obligingly chose that moment to rumble loudly and the entire table laughed, Lucy included.

"I believe the dish originates in Archenland…have you ever come across it?" Peter asked Saskia.

Her smile froze on her face for a moment; they were getting to the very sensitive topic of Archenland which she had no doubt would soon lead to her past. She recovered quickly and looked down at the table briefly before looking up again.

"No, I'm afraid that all we ever ate in my village was chicken, turkey, rabbit, goat, beef, mutton and lamb. Quail's cannot survive in the wild as rabbits can and they are not practical to own so there were none in mine or any of the surrounding villages." She told them, able to momentarily speak the truth.

"But of course! It was silly of me to think otherwise." Peter chastised himself. "And what village is it that you come from?"

"Barvock." She lied easily; she had at least got this far in planning her cover story.

"I'm not familiar with it.." Peter mused, practically stroking his imaginary beard as he searched his memory for the mention of such a village.

"It's in the East. Very, very small. There's less than 100 of us there."

"That small? My my…that's more of a hamlet really." Peter continued to muse, still trying to think if he'd heard of it.

Saskia breathed a small sigh of relief as the door opened and everyone was momentarily distracted by the food that was carried in. But her relief was short lived as she realised that now the subject of her home had been breached it would not be long before they returned to it again.

"Marvellous!" Lucy exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. "This is one of my favourites." She said a little quieter to Saskia who smiled. She had to admit, her mouth was watering at the rich, fruity smell that now filled the room.

A dwarf deposited a plate in front of her with a little difficulty and Saskia immediately checked to see what everyone else was doing. Knowing her luck there'd be an important Narnian custom to do first and she'd simply start eating and offend all the kings and queens.

"Oh please, do start!" Susan urged her, noting her furtive glances around the table as she herself was given a plate of food.

Saskia took half a forkful of the tender meat that was swimming in a clear brown sauce and put it in her mouth, feeling very aware of the numerous pairs of eyes on her. Everyone was watching her reaction (save for Lucy who was too busy tucking in).

Her eyes popped a little in surprise at the wonderful taste that filled her mouth and everyone around the table laughed.

"We all had exactly the first reaction the first time we had this dish." Edmund explained to her, making sure his parsnip was covered in the sauce before eating it.

"So, Peter, I hear the giants are causing problems again?" Mr Beaver asked a little worriedly. His wife tutted and reprimanded him for bringing politics up at the table but Peter reassured her that it was fine.

"Yes; two adventurous satyrs strayed into their territory and, as a result, one is now dead and the other only managed to escape with terrible wounds. They seem to be very agitated about something, but of course, as always, we have no idea what."

Edmund was half paying attention to the conversation; he, Peter and Orieus had already had a meeting discussing the best plan of action, but it was always interesting to hear a civilian's point of view.

He peeked cautiously at Saskia, still slightly worried that she could be a spy of some sort and was surprised to find her staring straight over his head in horror at something.

She looked back at her food quickly and pushed a bit of meat around, but her gaze kept flicking to something on the wall behind him, seeming to move to the right a few inches every time.

There was something about her stricken gaze that worried him, yet he knew there was nothing behind him that could make her react in such a way. Finally, unable to stand it anymore he turned in his seat and looked where he was sure her gaze had been. There was nothing but wall, tapestry and a flickering torch for her to stare at.

When he turned back and sneaked a glance at her he found her staring at her plate and eating with her eyes down, her cheeks just a little pink.

His mind wandered to Dr Takits warning about her skull abnormality. Was this it? Did she have strange moments like this?

Mr Beaver and Peter were now discussing roughly how large an army would be needed to give Narnia control over the giants again when Susan interrupted, suggesting that they didn't need an army at all.

"If we can create a treaty with the dragons in the North then they would easily be able to get the giants under control with very little force needed on the ground."

"Why not befriend a couple of the giants and then turn them on their own kind?" Saskia asked quietly, seeming to have recovered completely from her odd turn. "I don't know how many giants there are, but I imagine two or three could do a great deal of damage to their own kind…" She suggested tentatively, encouraged by Susan's involvement to participate herself; in Archenland women had very little say about anything, war and battles, in particular, they had no say in at all.

"They could, but I'm afraid it's awfully hard to even get one of his own, let alone two or three. And they're incredibly stupid; they're likely to blurt it out to the others, and then the whole plan would be ruined." Peter explained.

"And besides, it's a little cruel to turn them on their own kind, don't you think?" Lucy asked with a frown, trying to get a tiny scrap of meat to stay on her fork.

Saskia shrugged a little uncaringly. "Humans do it all the time."

There was a short silence at the table. "What an interesting observation." Mr Tumnus finally said, clearly thinking it through quickly himself.

"Hmm, it's an interesting idea, but, as I said, there are many complications with the giants!" Peter said almost apologetically. "Let us talk of something else; I fear we will have a full-blown debate if we do not! I hear you have had another letter from Rabadash, Susan…"

"Oh, yes!" Susan immediately perked up at the mention of her newest suitor and immediately became a simpering and flattered queen, a direct contrast to just moments ago when she had been discussing war tactics.

Edmund looked back at Saskia, finding her to be very odd indeed and half expecting her to be staring at a point behind him again, but this time she was cringing to the right slightly, her face pained as she shifted in her chair restlessly.

He outright stared, wondering what on earth could be the matter with her. It looked almost as if she had a terrible pain in her left ear that she couldn't shake off.

She closed her eyes with her brow slightly creased and continued to lean away. She gave a tiny flinch and his eyes widened at her bizarre behaviour.

"Saskia, are you quite all right?" He finally asked, unable to stand her pain-filled face any longer.

Her eyes immediately snapped open to meet his with shock and embarrassment at having been caught.

"Oh, yes, quite." She said faintly, trying to cover herself whilst clearly still in pain. "I'm afraid that my ear was previously blocked full of sea water, and the pressure is quite harsh at the moment." She continued, quickly deciding it was best to pretend she were in pain.

"Would you like something to dull the pain?" Lucy asked worriedly. "We have a wonderful vintage Calormene whisky that we find normally does the trick…"

"No, thank you." Saskia said with a small smile. "I'm afraid I don't particularly like alcohol, except of course, Narnian wine." She quickly amended, remembering where she was. Of course, it was not that she did not agree with alcohol, rather she didn't want to say anything she shouldn't.

"You had me worried for a moment there!" Mr Beaver boomed from the other end of the table. "I was gonna say, I've never, ever met anyone who doesn't like Narnian wine!" there was a small chuckle around the table that was quickly silenced as Peter leant back in his chair and removed his napkin from his lap, folding it haphazardly and putting it down next to his empty plate.

"So, Saskia, you must tell us about yourself! What unfortunate circumstances led to you drifting at sea for 4 days?"

All eyes instantly swivelled to look at Saskia and she swallowed nervously; now came the tricky part. She was an expert liar, but it is very easy to get caught out when you create a web of lies.

"It's quite simple really. My father is a silk merchant who trades mainly with the Lone Islands. He took me along on his voyage because I have a good eye for colours and he hopes that I will later be able to help my brother when he hands over the business, but, before we'd even been sailing for one day we hit a terrible storm. Unfortunately as I was crossing the deck the ship was rocked by a huge wave and I fell overboard. No doubt my father tried to search for me, but within 5 minutes the ship had been carried out of my sight…" She trailed off, her story running out of steam.

"How awful!" Susan exclaimed, her eyes wide and her hand clasped to her throat as though she were choking. "You must have been so frightened!"

"Um, yes, it was terrifying." Saskia replied, getting a grip of herself quickly as Susan's comment took her by surprise. No doubt if that was what had happened then she would have been terrified, but actually, being in the sea had been a relief compared to being on land.

She looked around the rest of the table but quickly looked down as she noticed Edmund's assessing eyes on her, a slight crease between his eyebrows as he frowned uncertainly.

He was far too observant for her comfort.

"We must somehow get word to your father that you are safe and well." Peter said urgently, typically thinking of others. "We would not want him to worry."

Saskia suddenly felt quite faint at the very thought of them trying to contact her family; this was something she had not – but should have – forseen.

She swooned forwards slightly, managing to catch herself before she fell face first into her plate.

She closed her eyes and distantly heard chairs scrape back as a few around the table jumped up worriedly.

"My goodness, are you alright?" Lucy demanded from beside her, catching hold of her arm as Peter rushed the length of the table and securely grasped hold of her shoulders. "You've gone quite green!"

"Yes, I'm fine." Saskia replied distantly, keeping her eyes shut and actually feeling quite sick.

"She's still recovering." She heard Peter say confidently to everyone and she took a few deep breaths, trying to push down the sudden nausea. "Call Dr Takit." He ordered no-one in particular.

"No!" She protested feebly, her eyes fluttering open at his words. "No, really, I'm quite alright, I think though, perhaps, if you don't mind, that I will go and lie down for a little while…"

"Of course!" Peter exclaimed from above her, managing to still hold onto her with one hand whilst forcefully pulling her chair out from underneath he table with the other. The movement was so smooth she barely even noticed she was moving and, a true gentleman, he carefully helped her out of her seat and began to lead her towards the door, clearly intending to take her all the way to her room.

"Oh." She suddenly said when she realised his intentions. "Thank you, but I'm sure I can manage, you must want to return to your meal - "

"Nonsense." He silenced her very quickly with his authoritative voice. "I've had that dish thousands of times; it is not every day we are graced with a surprise survivor!"

She gave a small smile at his words. "You managed to make it sound like a good thing."

"That's because it is." He told her simply. "Are you feeling any better?"

She made a negative noise in her throat, certain that she would be sick if she shook her head. "I believe it may have been the sudden rush of hot food after not eating for so long." She suggested, not really knowing what she was talking about. Her older brother used to sarcastically say that a good meal solved everything.

With this thought in her head she realised that she'd made the perfect escape; she now had another night to perfect her story!

"It may have been." Peter replied gravely. "Will you be alright from here?" He asked worriedly as they reached her door.

"Yes, thank you!" She said, very grateful and wondrous. The High King of Narnia had just helped her to her room after she'd taken a funny turn. Her brother's would never believe this!

"Just go down to the kitchen in the morning and Cook will rustle you up anything you like! Or, if you're still feeling unwell, one of the servants will do it for you."

She thanked him again and went into her room, barely managing to take off Lucy's dress before collapsing on the bed, still fighting down nausea.


End file.
